AMERICA IN PRIMETIME

In true PBS fashion, this is some of the most thoughtful television about television you're ever going to find.

If you've been an avid television viewer at any point during the past six decades, then The PBS series America In Primetime should serve as a thought-provoking walk down memory lane.  This four-part series focuses on TV archetypes throughout the decades - "Independent Woman", "Man of the House", "The Crusader", and "The Misfit".  Through clips and interviews, each episode examines the evolution of these archetypes in television history.

"Independent Woman" examines the changing portrayal of women in American Primetime as seen in The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Roseanne, Murphy Brown, Desperate Housewives, Nurse Jackie, Sex and the City, Weeds, Grey's Anatomy, and The Good Wife. Interviews with the shows' creators and their stars (including Mary Tyler Moore, Roseanne Barr, Julianna Margulies, Eva Longoria, and Candice Bergen to name a few) round out the discussion of how women on TV evolved as feminism took hold and the role of women changed in society.

In much the same vein, "Man of the House" looks at the changing role of the family patriarch in television.  Examples range from wholesome classics like The Andy Griffith Show, Leave it to Beaver, and The Dick Van Dyke Show to crustier father figures like Archie Bunker and, you know, Tony Soprano.  There's also plenty of middle ground to be explored in shows like Modern Family and Thirtysomething.  Interviewees include Norman Lear, Rob Reiner, Ron Howard, and Jerry Mathers, among others.

Appropriately, the "Misfit" episode covers shows about quirky characters or families that defy categorization.  Think 30 Rock, The Addams Family, Arrested Development, Beavis and Butthead, Freaks and Geeks, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, The Office, Taxi, and True Blood.  While the role of misfits in society may not have changed much over the years, the shows that represent them and the style of humor they embody has certainly evolved.  Interviews with Alec Baldwin, Larry David, Mike Judge, and Alan Ball round out this installment.

Finally, "The Crusader" explores shows about characters who fight for justice through varying means.  This includes by-the-book cops as well as vigilantes and renegades.  Shows discussed include 24, Dexter, Homicide: Life on the Streets, House, M*A*S*H, NYPD Blue, The Shield, The Wire, and X-Files.  Interviewees include Michael C. Hall, Hugh Laurie, Alan Alda, Steven Bochco, Dennis Franz, Michael Chiklis, and Gillian Anderson.

In true PBS fashion, this is some of the most thoughtful television about television you're ever going to find.

DVD NOTES

Extra features include additional excerpts from twenty more interviews.  Subjects include David Chase, Shonda Rhimes, Norman Lear, Bryan Cranston, Felicity Huffman, Mike Judge, Judd Apatow, and David Simon.